Can MS be mistaken for Lyme disease?

Lyme disease and MS are often confused

The symptoms of Lyme disease and MS can be similar. Doctors may confuse one with the other. To diagnose these conditions, your doctor will need to conduct blood and other tests.

What is the difference between Lyme disease and MS?

Multiple sclerosis (MS) and Lyme disease are diseases that stem from very different causes. MS is a life-long autoimmune condition that disrupts the communication between your brain and your body. Lyme disease can happen if you're bitten by a deer tick infected with the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi.

Can Lyme disease trigger MS?

Sometimes, people who think they may have Lyme disease find out they have MS (an immune-mediated central nervous system disorder). Lyme disease as an infection can act to trigger MS attacks.

What can be mistaken for Lyme disease?

Can MS cause a positive Lyme test?

More recently Coyle et al. 6 examined the presence of antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi in 283 MS patients in a highly endemic region for Lyme disease. They found that seven percent of the patients had a borderline or positive serology and only one patient had a truly suggestive history for Lyme disease.

Woman Was Misdiagnosed By Doctors for 15 Years | Today

How often is Lyme disease misdiagnosed as MS?

14% of chronic Lyme patients report being initially misdiagnosed with MS and roughly 2% are misdiagnosed with other neurologic diseases, like ALS, Parkinson's and Multiple systems atrophy. Now you might think no harm/no foul—so long as they eventually correctly diagnose and treat the Lyme disease.

Does Lyme show up on MRI?

Lyme disease symptoms may also have a relapsing-remitting course. In addition, Lyme disease occasionally produces other abnormalities that are similar to those seen in MS, including positive findings on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the brain and analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).

How do you test for neurological Lyme disease?

Key Points for Healthcare Providers

Two-step serologic testing for Lyme disease is the recommended diagnostic test for neurologic Lyme disease. Cerebral spinal fluid analysis is not necessary to diagnose Lyme meningitis, but can help exclude other causes of illness, such as bacterial meningitis.

What causes a false positive Lyme test?

Infection with other diseases, including some tickborne diseases, or some viral, bacterial, or autoimmune diseases, can result in false positive test results. Some tests give results for two types of antibody, IgM and IgG. Positive IgM results should be disregarded if the patient has been ill for more than 30 days.

Can a rheumatologist diagnose Lyme disease?

In other words, a rheumatologist or neurologist will not be able to treat your Lyme if no diagnosis has been made. They can simply help treat symptoms that result from chronic or untreated Lyme. To treat Lyme disease, you must get an accurate diagnosis and be prescribed antibiotics.

What does MS feel like when starting?

Numbness or Tingling

A lack of feeling or a pins-and-needles sensation can be the first sign of the nerve damage from MS. It usually happens in the face, arms, or legs, and on one side of the body. It also tends to go away on its own.

Do you get lesions with Lyme disease?

Most Lyme disease skin lesions are uniformly red without the rings or target appearance. They are distinguished from other skin rashes by their round or oval shape and sharply demarcated borders. Skin lesions often hide in difficult to see places such as behind the knee or in the groin or armpit.

Is neurological Lyme disease Real?

Many patients referred for Lyme disease are ultimately found to have a rheumatologic or neurologic diagnosis.

What are the neurological symptoms of Lyme disease?

Neurological complications most often occur in the second stage of Lyme disease, with numbness, pain, weakness, Bell's palsy (paralysis of the facial muscles), visual disturbances, and meningitis symptoms such as fever, stiff neck, and severe headache.

Does Lyme cause brain lesions?

Krüger et al (8) evaluated 96 patients with Lyme disease. In one group, 15 patients had brain or spinal cord clinical signs and symptoms. Computed tomography of the brain was performed in 14 patients; seven of 14 patients showed brain edema or ischemic-type lesions.

What is neurological Lyme disease?

Neurological Lyme disease, also known as Lyme neuroborreliosis, occurs when the Lyme- or TBRF-causing bacteria invade the central nervous system. Some describe neurological Lyme disease as a Lyme infection of the brain. Research has found that up to 15-40% of late-stage Lyme patients develop neurological disorders.

Can you test positive for Lyme years later?

Your immune system continues to make the antibodies for months or years after the infection is gone. This means that once your blood tests positive, it will continue to test positive for months to years even though the bacteria are no longer present.

How reliable are Lyme tests?

A tricky diagnosis

In the first three weeks after infection, the test only detects Lyme 29 to 40 percent of the time. (The test is 87 percent accurate once Lyme spreads to the neurological system, and 97 percent accurate for patients who develop Lyme arthritis).

How long does IgM stay positive in Lyme?

IgM or IgG antibody responses to B. burgdorferi may persist for 10-20 years, but these responses are not indicative of active infection.

What does Lyme neuropathy feel like?

The symptoms may include: Pain that could be described as “sharp,” “burning,” or “throbbing” Pins-and-needles tingling sensations, most often felt in the hands and feet. Numbness or a reduced ability to feel sensation.

How long does neurological Lyme disease last?

These symptoms can include fatigue, joint or muscle aches, and cognitive dysfunction. They may last up to six months or longer. These symptoms can interfere with a person's normal activities and may cause emotional distress as a result. However, most people's symptoms improve after six months to a year.

What is the most accurate test for Lyme disease?

A blood test does not only detect Lyme disease; it is the most accurate and preferred test for diagnosing the disease. If a patient with Lyme disease shows signs that the central nervous system has been affected by the disease, western blot testing on the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) can be performed.

Can a brain scan show Lyme disease?

Now, in a small study, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers report they have used an advanced form of brain scan to show that 12 people with documented post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS) all show elevation of a chemical marker of widespread brain inflammation, compared with 19 healthy controls.

Can a spinal tap diagnose Lyme disease?

The most common testing for Lyme disease is conducted on the blood. However, when central nervous system Lyme disease is suspected, the spinal fluid should be tested as well. When Lyme arthritis is suspected and the fluid in the joint is aspirated, the joint fluid may be tested for evidence of Lyme disease.

Can you test negative for Lyme and still have it?

It can sometimes give false “positive” results. On the other hand, if you have it done too soon after you've been infected, your body may not have developed enough antibodies for the test to detect them. This will give you a “negative” result even though you do have Lyme disease.